The Tides of Fate
by Shinodaluva
Summary: Penelo and Vaan are orphans who live on the Phon Coast. One day, the sky pirate Balthier visits the camp and attracts Penelo with his charms. Vaan reacts by vying for his best friend's affections. V/P,P/B. IN PROGRESS
1. Like a Sailor

**A/N: This is adapted from a long-ass FFXII fic I wrote on 9 (!) pages of graph paper,using each line...blah,blah. Basically, it was ENORMOUS and really long and stuff. So, adapted! :) Vaan and Penelo live on the Phon Coast, and fall in love one summer night(no lemon). AWWWW!!!! This is the first FFXII fic I ever wrote, so it is very dear to meh :) Yes, I have a thing with pears.**

Vaan bit into the pear as he gazed upon the open ocean. Some ships were leaving the coast for Balfonheim, loaded to the brim with goods and fresh-raised chocobos. Penelo was strolling the beach, collecting various shells and stones that dotted the lush sand.

"Vaan!" the girl cried. "C'mere!" the boy gave a grunt and stood, making his way over to his friend, who acknowledged him and pointed to the ground. "Look! A real crab!"

"Guuwwahhh!!!" Vaan jumped in surprise as the tiny shelled crustacean made it's way towards the boy's shadow. "It's comin' for me!" Penelo giggled as Vaan dashed around her in fear.

"It's not going to eat you, Vaan, relax!"

"That's what you think!" Penelo put her hands on her hips and sighed.

"How are you ever going to become a pirate if you're afraid of little sea critters?" she said to him as he looked over her shoulder at the animal, who had settled itself into the sand.

"Heh, screw pirating if I have to deal with those things," Vaan snorted, taking another chunk out of the fruit. "Cuz then they'll be bigger and more mean."

"So you'll steal for a living, huh?" Vaan looked at her with surprise.

"Yeah, so?"

"Vaan..."

"Look, Penelo, I told you, if we have to eat, I'll get us something," Vaan said with a sigh. "It's not that bad. What do we do, sit here and let these goddamn Imperials take over every-"

"Vaan!"

"What?" the boy paused, slightly annoyed.

"Don't swear at me."

"Huh." Vaan crossed his arms. "Whudder you gunna do about it?" Penelo tackled the boy into the sand, and Vaan laughed in surprise and she fell atop him. "Hey! Hey!" he chuckled. ''Take it easy!"

"No!" Penelo said. "Not until you apologize!"

"Apologize?"

"Vaan!" Penelo sighed in mock frustration before releasing the boy, who sat up and brushed the sand off them both.

"Okay," he said after patting his thighs free of the grit. "I'm sorry for swearing." Penelo cocked her head.

''Maybe you would make a good pirate." she said,smiling thoughtfully.

"Or at least a sailor." Vaan suggested.

"Yup." Penelo agreed. "definitely a sailor."


	2. Dorktastic

**A/N: Wow, my updates have gone cold. Not really though, seeing as I'm doing them right now. *sigh* Anyways, Ive decided to forgo the explanatory parts of the original work (which saves me lots of time) and just go with the story, which will hopefully make it shorter and less obnoxious. I'm sorry for anyone who wanted a lemon, but I told myself to hold back this time. Plus, I ate them all. ;) EGAD! Rambling. Enjoy. One more chapter until I will reveal the Leading Man!!!! Who could he be.....?**

Vaan couldn't keep his eyes off the sea. Even as an adolescent, it still fascinated him-it's darkest depths holding secrets and treasures not even he could acquire. It made him feel all the more calm and patient with life, knowing there were things he could not control or do, and he was content with it.

A shuffle made the hot sand curl around his ankles comfortably, and he gave a pleasurable sigh. The presence of a sea breeze swayed his desert-blonde hair, effectively cooling him. Vaan lay on his back and closed his eyes, basking contentedly in the warm sun.

"See you're not doing anything, as usual," a voice startled the boy, who jumped up in surprise.

"Penelo?!" he gasped, seeing the Dalmascan girl smile sweetly at him. "I..."

"Taking a break, Vaan?" Penelo giggled and pushed Vaan back onto the sand.

"Not really," Vaan replied with a smirk. "don't really feel like workin' much anyways. So what?" Penelo frowned discontentedly.

"Vaan, you know you can't go off stealing things forever. You need a steady job."

"Like you,huh?" Vaan snorted. "With Gurdy at the stables?" he scratched his nose blindly. "No thanks."

"Vaan, it's not even that bad!" Penelo protested, putting her hands on her hips impatiently. Vaan smiled at this gesture, which always made her seem more appealing to him. Her anger was his refuge for affection.

"Those birds smell," Vaan muttered. Penelo reached out for his hand.

"Come on. I'll show you how cute they can be!"

"Meh," Vaan furrowed. "if it makes you happy." Penelo gave him a grin."

"It will." Vaan stood, his boots sinking heavily into the sand. Penelo dragged the boy back to the hunter's camp and found the flying moogle by the stables, looking worried. Gurdy saw Vaan and gave an angered face.

"Oh, you blasted Hume-child!" she yelped. "Running off again to play by the ocean! Lord Vayne I've to close the business for your wanderings!" Vaan looked down accusingly. Penelo laughed nervously and sighed.

"Well,actually Gurdy, he just got caught up in some traffic and..."

"Traffic!" the moogle cried. "What traffic!? Slaven traffic??? Oh for the heavens!" Vaan smiled slyly at Penelo, who giggled back. "What's so funny now?!" Gurdy growled, then gave a defeated sigh. "I'll never understand you Humes. Always thinking we moogles can provide for you and you can't even...blugh! Nevermind. I hope you've not forgotten the dung piles you've left while on vacation."

"No ma'am." Vaan said quickly before the she-moogle became more upset. He slipped away from Penelo and rushed to find an available shovel to clean the chocobo's mess.

Penelo found him rustling behind a shed.

"Find one yet?"

"Hoping I don't."

"Vaan..."

"What?"

"You should be grateful." Penelo bit her lip. The boy gave a grunt as he moved some boxes from his path.

"What the hell is this?" he threw a long leather strap towards Penelo, who ducked to avoid the missile.

"Reins, Vaan.'' The girl responded.

"Oh." Penelo watched as her friend dug uselessly through piles of tack in the shed. His perseverance and willingness surprised her.

"Dammit!" Vaan griped as a piece of hard leather slammed onto his finger. "goddammiiiiiiit!" Penelo rushed to him.

"Oh, Vaan, quit whining!" she told him after an inspection of the wound. "what even hit you?"

"That crap!" Vaan pointed to the saddle with his good hand. Penelo bit her lip.

"Well, maybe you could use your hands."

"What?"

"To clean the poop."

"Oh gods," Vaan rolled his eyes. "Like that would be any worse."

"So you will?"

"What?" Vaan shook his head. "What're you... no!" Penelo giggled at his outburst and smiled at him with a slight blush."Whadder you so grinny about?" Vaan inquired irritably. "Nothing too funny here."

"That's what you think..." Penelo pointed to Vaan's hair, where a mess of chocobo feathers of various colors had gathered in his plunderings. Vaan gave a shout and hurriedly brushed the invasive particle away.

"Oh for the gods's sakes!" he cursed as the big feathers wafted to the ground lazily. "Why does all the dorky stuff happen to me?"

**A/N: Because Vaan, you have one of the most dorktastic character designs ever XD don't worry though, I'm sure Sqeenix will angst you up into the perfect Cloud Strife mold one of these days. Until then...keep dreaming of glory...hahaha! XD I'm terrible. Short chapter angst? DEAL WITH IT.**


	3. Landing

**A/N: Oh my gawd, this is taking forever! But no rushing! I've about 4 pillion projects going on and finals are tomorrow!! Eeeep! Plus, I've gotta finish memorizing my scene for drama on Friday, cuz that's when my finals are. DAMMIT! Oh well, at least I got around to writing this, finally. I have cast Slowga on myself as to not blatantly rush through. And as I said, the Leading Man shall make an appearance. I'm sorry if this seems kind half-assed. I've been writing that VinTif fic all day. Universe switches are a BITCH..... Also, I've never done the Wild Malboro hunt in FFXii and I'm not about to boot up the game to check where it is, so I'm guessing it's in Golmore, since most Malboros are.**

After some worthless grumbling, Vaan managed to get a shovel from Gurdy and unmess the stable. He was whining the whole time, as Penelo noted, hearing his complaints and sorrows with each shovelful of poop. The boy gave a final heave as the stable was clean.

"For the lord," Vaan groaned as he hopped the fence to reach his friend. Penelo giggled.

"Told you you needed some good hard work."

"Yeah, yeah." Vaan scratched his neck tiredly. "Wanna go check the board? Maybe someone posted some new marks!"

"Oh, Vaan," Penelo sighed. "The only thing you ever got around to hunting was that rabid Thextera that made it's way to the coast."

"That was a big wolf!" Vaan exclaimed to her. "It was big as a bagoly."

"A bagoly." Penelo repeated. "Maybe you should steal from them. I hear they carry a lot of gil."

"Bagolys?" Vaan said. He pondered. "I'll keep it in mind. And maybe in my pocket." Penelo laughed again and the pair made their way to the mark board in the center of the camp. Vaan pondered over it for awhile. "Huh. Doesn't look to interesting."

"Oh, Vaan, look!" Penelo said, pointing to a weather-tattered flyer. "A Wild Malboro." Vaan squinted at the tiny print.

"Yeah, so?"

"I've heard they're pretty dangerous." Penelo said.

"Let's hope so," Vaan plucked the flyer from the board in haste. "cuz I'm goin' for it." Penelo tugged the paper from him suddenly.

"No you aren't!" she cried. "Are you kidding me Vaan? A Wild Malboro? Do you know how crazy you sound?" Vaan shook his head.

"Nope."

"Well you are." Penelo looked down. "What if you get hurt?"

"Penelo." Vaan touched her shoulder. "If I was going to, I wouldn't do it." Penelo turned away from him.

"How're you going to get to Golmore Jungle, Vaan?"

"I'll fly there."

"Fly?"

"Yeah." Vaan scratched his nose. "Next time an airship comes, I'll get a hitch there."

"You're so clueless Vaan." Penelo squinted ahead of her. A crowd of people had gathered near the shore and were watching a medium sized aircraft attempt to land on the clear blue water. No sooner had she seen it than Vaan jumped in the air.

"Whooo hoooo! An airship! An airship!" he grabbed Penelo's arm forcefully. "Come on Penelo, let's see who it is!" Penelo had no time to gasp as the overeager boy dragged her to the flock of hunters, all of whom were talking excitedly at the stranger's arrival. Penelo watched the landing gear of the craft sink lazily into the Imperial sand. Some of the hunters had left, seeing and taking no more interest in the arrival of th craft. Vaan and Penelo watched as a tall and lanky man appeared from the side of the ship, gazing fondly at the ocean.

"Oh dear," he said to himself, turning towards the ship's interior. "Looks like we made a stentorian arrival, Fran!" Vaan rushed to the side of the ship.

"Vaan!" Penelo resisted him, but the boy placed himself in front of the tall man.

"Oh?" the man asked, gazing at the boy. "A Dalmascan adolescent on Archadian ground? Who might you be?" Vaan smiled excitedly.

"You've a cool airship, sir," he said, looking over the craft. " I'm Vaan." The man tsked and went back inside the ship.

"Fran!" he called. "A visitor!"

"Already, Balthier?" came a feminine voice. Vaan waited nervously outside, seeing the ships name emblazoned on the side. It was the _Strahl_. He bit his lip and turned to Penelo, who was walking towards him.

"Why do you do the weirdest things, Vaan?" she asked herself. "Why do I even bother looking after you? Who is this guy?"

"Balthier, I heard his partner say." Vaan replied as a Viera woman appeared from inside the ship, eyeing the Humes with distaste.

"Humes, Balthier, Hume-children..." she said. Balthier was at her side. He gave the couple a smile.

"Well hello there, young ones." he said, looking a Penelo, who blushed. He was extraordinarily dashing, his gelled and softly spiked hair framing his handsome and serious face. "I suppose you live on the coast, then?

"We're orphans, sir," Vaan explained, keeping the excitement from his voice. "me and Penelo used ta live in Rabanastre."

"Dalmascans." Balthier said under his breath. "How curious, then you've come to the coast. In search of a hunter's life then?"

"No sir, well, sort of sir..actually I.." Vaan stammered until Penelo grabbed his arm.

"We're just making a living around here, sir." she said. Balthier raised a brow at her and smiled good naturedly.

"Oh, and this young lady, you must be the Penelo the boy spoke of a moment ago." Penelo nodded.

"Yes, it's a pleasure to meet you sir."

"Balthier, and Fran. My partner in crime." the Viera smiled quickly. "Every leading man needs a leading lady..."

"Well, are you staying on the coast?" Penelo asked.

"For a time, I suppose, then we're off to the Jahara. Getting some new wood furnishings for the _Strahl_, you see. The Jahara make the finest of woodcrafts, being so close to the rich lumber of Golmore-"

"Jungle!" Vaan interrupted hastily. Penelo slapped his forearm. Balthier merely looked amused.

"For lack of a better term, I'd say so." he said. Penelo apologized to the man.

"He's gone crazy over some Wild Malboro hunt." she explained. Again Balthier's amused look returned.

"Malboro mark, you say?" he repeated. "How curious, it being so close to our destination. A quick chocobo rental from the Ozmone Plain-"

"Could you take us there, sir?" Vaan interjected, making Balthier frown slightly.

"Well, I see no harm in it other than the fact that I've no intention of taking anymore than Fran and I aboard the _Strahl._"

"Oh, but, sir-" Vaan started pleadingly.

"I'll see to it we meet again, however. It was enjoyable to greet you. And so early in our landing." he grinned at Fran. "always had a knack for making friends." The woman remained silent. "Till then, farewell to you both. I must retire and make preparations for our evening meal." Balthier closed the door to the _Strahl _and left Vaan and Penelo standing outside it. Vaan looked defeated. He gave a weak sigh.

"Did you really think he'd give us a ride, you pressuring him like that?" Penelo said wearily.

"I tried-"

"He just got here Vaan. He's probably pressured to look good."

"Well from the way you were looking at him, I'd say he had no problem." Vaan muttered. Penelo blushed.

"He was handsome." Vaan groaned.

"Yeah, whatever."

**A/N: Looks like I'm not the only one who fell for that Imperial hottie ;) still trips me out that Balthier is Archadian. Kinda funny actually, since the Archadians are like the FFXii interpretation of Americans XD**


	4. The Ocean

**A/N: I apologize greatly to those of you who have been watching and waiting for additions to this story. Luckily for you, my FFXII bug is back {for the moment} so I'll write as much as I legally can before my CloTi OTP disease comes back. Again, I'm super sorry,but I hope you will find these next additions to the story refreshing and enjoyable...I like this chapter a bunch. I promise I'll make them longer. But I'm tired right now...----MS**

Vaan paced throughout the bungalow the night after his meeting with Balthier. His mind was racing with thoughts of exploring the Golmore Jungle in search of the Wild Malboro. He fantasized about slaying the fell creature using the steel blade he cherished, the look on Penelo's face as he said "I told you so." Getting there proved to be rather difficult, as he was sure that Gurdy wouldn't let him or Penelo out of the coast. If they managed to get there with Balthier and Fran, he could take care of himself on the way back. Vaan sighed. It really was too much to think about.

He gazed at Penelo, who was sleeping silently on her bed,her mouth opening with each breath. Vaan bit his lip and gave another sigh, staring out the window to the gentle rythmns of the ocean. He gave in to his instinct and made his way to the shore, wetting his feet in the chilled water. He sat in the sand and gazed upwards towards the unhindered expanse of stars that blanketed the heavens. He loved the coast, it's beauties shared with Penelo. Vaan had never realized the true nature of it, the massive amounts of wonder and amazement he felt whenever he laid eyes on the water. Somewhere within his mind he attributed this to Penelo as well, blushing shamefully afterwards.

"Hey,Vaan!" The girl called from somewhere in the distance. "Vaan!" The boy rolled over on his back and looked for her.

"I'm over here,Penelo." he said. A few moments later he heard her gentle steps in the sand. She looked at him.

"What are you doing out here in the middle of the night?" she asked. Vaan yawned.

"I dunno. I was thinking about sleeping."

"Why don't you sleep inside for a change,Vaan?" Penelo rolled her eyes. "You have a bed,ya know."

"So?" Vaan grunted as he stood up, facing Penelo. "Beds aren't always comfortable, ya know." he poked her side playfully. Penelo grabbed for him, but the boy dodged her hands with a chuckle. "Hey, what're you trying to pull?

"I'll pull your _ear_ if you don't stop messing around." Penelo said softly. Vaan's eyes widened.

"You wouldn't."

"Watch me." Penelo dove for him, and Vaan yelped as he felt himself fall onto the sand with a dull thud.

"No!" Vaan cried as the girl told hold of his ear and tugged. Penelo laughed and released him. Vaan pouted as she climbed off him.

"That'll teach you." Penelo said with a wink. Vaan snorted.

"Lot of teaching that'll do me." he muttered, brushing off excess sand from his hair and pants. Penelo looked at him and smiled.

"What are you doing out here anyway?"

"Nothing. Just thinking." Vaan replied, his eyes for the ocean again. Penelo looked at him thoughtfully.

"About..."

"You..." Vaan said unknowingly. He shook his head with realization as Penelo gave a slight flush. "No, I mean, I wasn't thinking about you like,_ thinking about you_...just,like, how you're like the ocean...I mean you're really cold all the time;even in the summer and you destroy ships and stuff but still have really pretty beaches and sand..." Vaan was flustered, at a loss for words. Penelo said nothing for awhile.

"Vaan,I...thanks." she gave him a smile, and Vaan relaxed. The tension in his body was palpable.

"Yeah. Sure." he said, rubbing his neck. "I think I'll go inside now..." Penelo took his arm gently.

"Good. That way I can make breakfast in the morning and not have to worry about you being washed out during high tide." Vaan chuckled.

"Yeah,yeah,whatever."


End file.
